Cute and cuddly characters are seemingly essential for almost every service in Japan, no matter how serious it may be, with the so-called Self-Defence Force securing Prince Pickles,
and the police, perky little Pipo.
In fact, the law is apparently so in love with young Pipo, that he is rather prominently plastered over some police boxes.
So, with this in mind, it’s not exactly surprising then that other, less serious services, are equally served, with one of the more memorable being the Suica penguin, who proudly boasts the benefits of combining telephones and train tickets.
However, as the commercial below amply proves, the fiery little fella’s axe-god inspired acrobatics mean that he has rebelliously rejected strict character requirements — sensationally swapping the customary cute for the more controversial cool.
Or, at the very least, a sort of cute-cum-cool compromise.
Jonathan says
Thats cool Lee, I don’t think we have any characters related to services over here, possibly a phone company or something along those lines.
Neil Duckett says
I had never noticed how often characters were used here, i will make a point of looking for them now …. the chick in the clip was cute too.
Todd says
I got a picture of Pipo (i didn’t know that was “it’s” name) on a police car too
http://japan.vrillusions.com/gallery/v/2006-05-26/japan-day06-065.JPG.html
side shot of car:
http://japan.vrillusions.com/gallery/v/2006-05-26/japan-day06-064.JPG.html
Paul says
The self defence force logo is class.
Zach Harden says
I remember from looking at documents from Customs Japan and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they have mascots plastered all over them. There is event a cutesy mascot for the Japanese passport, which has a top-hat and suitcase (http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/passport/index.html).